MCU: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Official Discussion

[CoulsonFan]

Originally Posted by Danalys

there's black widow and hawkeye planned as well.

it's hard to really think how they are going to manage all these properties. while still having the big summer blockbusters. because after ironman 3 there's an opening in their summer blockbuster cycle. after cap 3 thor 3, hulk 3 (i wish) and avengers 3 they need something big if they want to compete in the summer. which of all the above characters do they think they can make a big splash with? who knows. will they recast the avengers and start new trilogies?

Black Widow and Hawkeye have no characterization in these films and I don't think the time they get in Avengers will be sufficient to warm audiences up to an idea of a spinoff. They can put them in the SHIELD movie and then feel things out from there.

They won't just be making Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man movies, they're also launching characters like Dr. Strange and Black Panther, plus the intergalactic team movie(s.) Strange, Panther, Ant-Man, and even a character like Iron Fist all have the potential to become film trilogies which also tie into the crossovers.
Their goal is probably to emulate the Avengers comics and build up a roster of characters who can feature in an Avengers movie once they've done their series with the original team of Thor, Iron Man, Captain America. They can't have Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, but Hawkeye and Black Widow were part of that "second generation" of Avengers in the comics and they're working to establish them now.

[Danalys]

Originally Posted by CoulsonFan

Black Widow and Hawkeye have no characterization in these films and I don't think the time they get in Avengers will be sufficient to warm audiences up to an idea of a spinoff. They can put them in the SHIELD movie and then feel things out from there.

They won't just be making Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man movies, they're also launching characters like Dr. Strange and Black Panther, plus the intergalactic team movie(s.) Strange, Panther, Ant-Man, and even a character like Iron Fist all have the potential to become film trilogies which also tie into the crossovers.
Their goal is probably to emulate the Avengers comics and build up a roster of characters who can feature in an Avengers movie once they've done their series with the original team of Thor, Iron Man, Captain America. They can't have Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, but Hawkeye and Black Widow were part of that "second generation" of Avengers in the comics and they're working to establish them now.

they'd be daft to not make films that could be cheap using scarlett johansson and jeremy renner as leads. renner just got the bourne role, scarjo is one of the most famous people in the world. they are draws and playing characters people have seen before and giving those characters time to really establish themselves could mean big bucks for little spent. scarlett is on a 9 film deal if i remember correctly.

[Whiskey Tango]

Not too excited about a Black Widow film. Hawkeye maybe, because of Renner. They'd be great with Sam J. in a Agents of Shield flick.

[Danalys]

a good trailer could get people excited easily.

[CoulsonFan]

There is potentially a lot of overlap between some of the things they want to use. They've got Captain America fighting Hydra in his movie. SHIELD fight Hydra. If Hawkeye and Black Widow are SHIELD agents, they also fight Hydra.
You can throw Captain America all the immortal super Nazi characters--Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Arnim Zola.
You can throw SHIELD the Hydra-specific stuff: legions of Hydra goons, Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra. 60s SHIELD vs Hydra, 80s GI Joe vs Cobra--same thing, it works.
I guess you could set AIM aside for some other character(s,) but I'll still be shocked if they're ever willing to do MODOK in a movie. If AIM don't have MODOK, they mainly just try to make Cosmic Cubes, in which case it would make sense to involve Red Skull, in which case you've got a Captain America movie.
You could do an origin movie about Black Widow and Hawkeye both being "bad" or more gray-area characters before joining SHIELD, but I think you need people already to care about those characters a little more before following you on that journey.

[Quasimod0]

SHIELD vs HYDRA would make for some great merchandise

[Wolvieboy17]

There' not going to make a movie purely because of the actors. Marvel have never been about the actors, always about the characters. If it would fit to have a movie for them fine, but otherwise they're just going to force it because people know Scar Jo and Renner

[Danalys]

it's not forcing it. it's taking advantage of the opportunity they've made for themselves.

[TikkiEXX]

im a huge fan of the Gaurdians of the Galaxy but i really hope Nova is the first cosmic guy (not counting Thor. lol) that gets a movie. and i dont care if hes kinda similar to GL, he still kicks ass. other than that anything that Gladiator could pop up in im down for. that dude is a beast!!!

[Wolvieboy17]

Originally Posted by Danalys

it's not forcing it. it's taking advantage of the opportunity they've made for themselves.

It's forcing it if the characters aren't as strongly developed, and they're only doing it to capitalise on the actors star power. Characters come first.

[Iceman]

Good thread. The continuity throughout Marvel Comics even when an individual comic made no reference to the greater Marvel universe is what got me so into Marvel when I was a kid. What Marvel are now doing with their film universe is most definitely the way to go. My interest in all of their individual films, while still very very high, would be slightly lowered if they were out of continuity.

[HighFivingMF]

I've seen a lot of people in this thread (and others) mentioning that this is something DC won't do or DC is afraid to do. Good. I like what Marvel is doing, because the characters are designed to interact and work together. That works out easier, because most of Marvel's major characters were created by the same guy. But with DC characters they have their own separate, gigantic mythologies, especially the Big 6. Not to say there's something wrong with either company, but I prefer Marvel heroes working together because that's how they were designed and DC's heroes exploring their worlds alone because that's how they were designed, besides obvious team-ups like the Green Lantern Corps. for Hal, Robin for Batman, or Kid Flash for Flash.

[kedrell]

A solid BW origin film w/ heavy espionage elements would kick ass, IMO. I would hope it could be as good as something like the 1st Jason Bourne movie. Sure it'd be in many ways an action movie, but you know...smart.

[WildcatNC]

Originally Posted by kedrell

A solid BW origin film w/ heavy espionage elements would kick ass, IMO. I would hope it could be as good as something like the 1st Jason Bourne movie. Sure it'd be in many ways an action movie, but you know...smart.

It could. If we get a kick ass Shield movie after Avengers we will know more about the viability of Hawks or BW as solo characters.

I'm of the mind that they should just be the stars of the Shield flicks and leave it at that. They could even introduce Winter Soldier in the Shield movies before Cap II comes out. They would basically be the main stars of it and then Marvel could move to get Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Luke Cage, etc into theaters.

[CoulsonFan]

Originally Posted by HighFivingMF

I've seen a lot of people in this thread (and others) mentioning that this is something DC won't do or DC is afraid to do. Good. I like what Marvel is doing, because the characters are designed to interact and work together. That works out easier, because most of Marvel's major characters were created by the same guy. But with DC characters they have their own separate, gigantic mythologies, especially the Big 6. Not to say there's something wrong with either company, but I prefer Marvel heroes working together because that's how they were designed and DC's heroes exploring their worlds alone because that's how they were designed, besides obvious team-ups like the Green Lantern Corps. for Hal, Robin for Batman, or Kid Flash for Flash.

Here's the thing: Marvel is doing this and they have an intricate plan. Warner don't seem to have a plan but they're doing it anyway. Jeff Robinov's still pushing a Justice League project that sounds like the one he wanted before The Dark Knight came out--the one that would have cast a different actor as Batman. You would have had two actors playing Batman in two different movies at the same time. They didn't seem to think this was a problem.
I think that, by now, everyone's adapted to the idea that Nolan and Bale aren't willing to participate in crossovers. Here's what's really puzzling: neither can Zack Snyder's Superman:
http://www.totalfilm.com/news/zack-s...erent-superman

When asked how Warner Bros’ decision to move forward with a League movie affected his Superman, he responded:

“It doesn’t. Like what Chris Nolan is doing and what I’m doing with Superman, what they’ll do with Justice League will be its own thing with its own Batman and own Superman.

“We’ll be over here with our movie and they kinda get to do it twice which is kinda cool.”

"Kinda get to do it twice."
Let's remember that Batman 3 and this new Superman come out in 2012 and you could see this Justice League film as early as 2013. Different actor playing Superman, different actor playing Batman. Right now, we've every indication that Ryan Reynolds won't be in it.
It's possible that they've got someone from the comics side of DC telling them this is OK because DC's had "multiple universes" for decades. This is not a comics multiverse. In comics, doing "Flash of Two Worlds" requires only that you hire someone who can draw both versions of the Flash. On film, Justice League's Batman can never meet Christian Bale. Nor, I suspect, will any characters controlled by separate producers at Warner.
I think Warner don't know what they want to do with these properties. They certainly have walls of bureaucracy to push through that Marvel doesn't, but Marvel specifically designed their studio to function in a way that would save them headaches when dealing with continuity and casting. If Warner are ever willing to put all of these characters in the hands of a producer as strong as Feige, they might be able to put a plan together. Before that, they're going to have to endure a couple years of everyone wondering aloud why they made Jonah Hex when Marvel was assembling one of the decade's biggest IP Machines.

[Tony Stark]

CoulsonFan, Warner needs to put all the planing for future DC projects in Legendary Pictures and run it as a subsidiary like Disney is doing for Marvel Studios. Big chair execs kill these projects, that's why the Marvel properies at Fox have been such a mess.

Paramount is the only remaining "big 3" studio that basically runs itself as a distributor, and not like we're living in the 1940's, the way Warner, and Fox still try to run their studios.

Let the smaller studios have the creative process, and just front the money and distribute the film. Warner has only done well when it's allowed outisde forces to control the properties, like Rowling with the Potter movies, and Nolan with Batman and Inception.

[CoulsonFan]

Originally Posted by Tony Stark

CoulsonFan, Warner needs to put all the planing for future DC projects in Legendary Pictures and run it as a subsidiary like Disney is doing for Marvel Studios. Big chair execs kill these projects, that's why the Marvel properies at Fox have been such a mess.

Paramount is the only remaining "big 3" studio that basically runs itself as a distributor, and not like we're living in the 1940's, the way Warner, and Fox still try to run their studios.

Let the smaller studios have the creative process, and just front the money and distribute the film. Warner has only done well when it's allowed outisde forces to control the properties, like Rowling with the Potter movies, and Nolan with Batman and Inception.

Pretty much, but they don't own Legendary and Legendary's growing to the point that they could soon be set to take their relationships with talent and partner with any distributor they want to (if they want to.)

I was hoping Warner was starting to figure this stuff out when they created "DC Entertainment," but not much seems to have changed.

[UnkillableMick]

I couldn't find any mention of the timeline elsewhere, so if it is somewhere else, I apologise.

What's everyone's take on it? I know there's been a lot of speculation on how the films fit together continuity-wise. Here's what I make of it.

Captain America: The First Avenger - The stuff with Cap in World War II will obviously come first. Where the present day stuff will sit remains to be seen, but more on that in a bit.

Iron Man - Tony Stark becomes Iron Man, and is later visited by Nick Fury.

Iron Man 2/The Incredible Hulk/Thor - All of these seem to run pretty concurrently. Footage from the Hulk's rampage in TIH shows on Fury's screens at the end of IM2, but Stark has not yet joined SHIELD. Therefore, one can assume that the first part of TIH is happening at the same time as the second half of IM2. Likewise, mjolnir is found on earth towards the end of IM2, meaning that parts of Thor will be happening at the same time as both IM2 and TIH.

The Avengers - Nick Fury assembles Earth's mightiest heroes to fend off a threat no single hero could handle.

As for the present day Cap stuff, I always assumed that the finding and thawing of Cap would be the last thing to happen chronologically before the start of The Avengers, but I read an interesting theory the other day that Cap will be found and defrosted chronologically BEFORE the events of the first Iron Man, hence the title "The First Avenger" and Fury's comment; "You think you're the only superhero in the world?"

What does everyone else think?

[Danalys]

the days since last hulk out gets pretty large in TIH where as after the hammer is discovered by coulson Thor wraps up in a few days.

[Alientraveller]

That's pretty much it, I'd love to watch a chronological re-edit of the six films like a TV series (eg. the combined EMH mini-episodes and Breakout). I'll probably rewatch the films in the order they were produced (except IM2 will follow IM1) before I see the Avengers.

I certainly look forward to Ant-Man, Black Panther and Dr. Strange. I believe Marvel should rotate the characters, so we give Iron Man, Thor and Cap a break after their third films and relegate them to Avengers appearances until other characters complete their trilogies. Hell, Marvel may decide only Avengers movies are worth funding in these difficult times. I do hope The Incredible Hulk show and all the shows ABC are developing with Marvel also take place in the MCU.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Alientraveller

That's pretty much it, I'd love to watch a chronological re-edit of the six films like

Someone needs to get on that!

[kedrell]

I'm sure someone will in time.

[Sebastos]

Splendid thread. Anyone think Marvel will release two movies in the same year like they did this year?

[HighFivingMF]

Originally Posted by Iron Fist

Splendid thread. Anyone think Marvel will release two movies in the same year like they did this year?

Not for 2012 I don't think since they're putting so much into Avengers, but 2013 they very well could.

[Quasimod0]

and every year after that!